1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic shedding mechanism in which the shedding operation in a warping machine is automated, and an electronically controlled sectional warping machine employing the automatic shedding mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a conventional warping machine, the shedding operation has been carried out by manually moving a closed reed up and down, keeping warp yarns apart with lease rods to form lease, and passing lease cords through the lease. Since the shedding operation is very complicated and requires the operators' dexterity, it has been very difficult to automate the shedding operation. An example of an automatic warping machine is exemplified in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 118640/1989.
With the cited warping machine, the lease rods for passing lease cords into the lease are held by a gripper and are moved to a certain extent by the gripper. Therefore the warping machine should include the gripper and means for driving the gripper, which makes the machine complicated in a controlling mechanism and in the overall structure. In addition, the operation speed of the machine is slow, and the machine becomes very expensive.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to completely automate the shedding operation under the electronic control by a computer. A second object of the invention is to provide an automatic shedding mechanism and an electronically controlled sectional warping machine, which are simple in the overall structure, are inexpensive, and have a fast operation speed.